Tin and Timber

If you have the time and you like walking then take some time to observe the houses in Queensland. The following web site gives you an idea of styles.

http://www.redroof.com.au/qld-housing-styles.html

You should set aside a day or more in Brisbane where you could see them all. My former house in Yeerongpilly (love those aboriginal names!) was an Ashgrovian style. It was built out of wood, sat on wooden stumps and had a tin roof painted green. The wooden stumps were replaced by cement ones to avoid white ant problems. To protect the wood my father, rarely helped by your truly, had to paint the outside and the roof every few years. A job he detested with a passion. I remember summer afternoons listening to the cricket on the radio in the cool breezes under the house. The ground floor was enclosed with wooden lattes that afforded privacy but let the air circulate. We didn’t have air conditioning and rarely needed it. The roof however was another thing. When pummeled with heavy rain or hail, a common occurrence on summer afternoons, the noise would be enough to drown out even my mother’s calls to do my chores.